Box of Matches
by EnduringConfrontation
Summary: Police-Officer Vi's already unusual life becomes even more strenuous when her arch-nemesis, the notorious criminal Jinx, learns of her growing affection for her superior officer. (Rated M)
1. I - Lucky Day

"We shouldn't do this."

 _Ugh._ She hated it when he did that. Whenever she was trying to have a little fun he would always start complaining.  
Part of her wonders if he actually worries or just doesn't want her to enjoy herself.

"I don't care." she replied hastily before leaping to the next rooftop. It was pure coincidence she found out about where her favorite police officers were going to be today, and she wasn't gonna miss this perfect opportunity to ruin their day.

She was headed for the outskirts of the richer district of Piltover, near the old train station. That was a relatively quiet area, and her "friends" would have to wait quite a bit for reeinforcements. In other words, it was perfect! She knew that, and thus actually cared to make a plan this time;

First comes a glitterbomb she made specifically for this occasion, to make this a lasting experience.  
Then she is going to insult Fathands.  
After that, she will shoot rockets at them.  
And then she will comment on Hatlady's glittery look.

But what should she say? Maybe **_You look fabulous today, Hatlady!_** or **_I glitterally can't ev-_**

"You might injure them this time."

She stopped, completly pulled out of her thoughts, wondering who has said that. But the always-passimistic tone of that statement quickly made her realize it could only be Fishbones, who was strapped to her back. She grabs his iron jaw and pulls, bringing his head close to hers.

"I'm gettin' really tired of your complaints, scrap-head! So shut up, or I will make a toaster out of you." she says while glaring at him.

 _Silence_.

 _Stupid rocket-launcher_ she mutters, resuming her parkour towards her destination, which was a small bakery owned by an even smaller yordle. It was broken into yesterday, and because the yordle is an old friend of Hatlady (and maker of the cupcakes for her stupid traps), she was going to investigate herself. She knew that because she gets most of her food she needs from that place herself, not only because their sweets are delicious, but also to infuriate the sheriff if she should ever find out. She was lucky to be able to eavesdrop on the yordles call to the police department while getting some doughnuts.

Of course she always disguised herself before buying stuff there, as her real face was plastered across the city in the form of wanted-posters. No, the people working at the bakery knew her as _Emma_. Emma from the Freljord, which was a good cover-up to walk around in cloaks and otherwise thick clothing, which did a great job at hiding her bright blue hair and various tattoos.

But today she wasn't hiding. One could almost say she took a certain pride in performing her various crimes in her signature clothing, but Jinx didn't care about pride. What she cares about is fun, and the most fun is wearing bright blue and pink aswell as her many guns and bombs and yet, despite being painfully easy to spot, escaping from the police every. single. time.

With one last leap the rather thin girl made it to her previously picked vantage point; A brick rooftop with a small fence to hide behind and a clear view of the bakery which was only a few metres away. She took cover right behind the solid fence, waiting for her " _friends_ " to arrive.

* * *

Jinx didn't have to wait long; the Sheriffs punctuality made timing her crimes very easy. They were arriving in a standard-issue Police cruiser, which was a medium-sized, prominently white vehicle with space for up to five people. Like many things in this city it was powered by Hex-Tech, a technology that utilizes natural magic for mostly mechanical purposes. This, and the many residing scientists and inventors, gave Piltover the title "City of Progress".

Since most of her own gear was powered by Hex-Tech she regularly tinkered around with it. She loved it. Tinkering was like Jinx's favorite thing ever, next to annoying the Piltover Duo.

Said police-officers were now exiting their vehicle. The first being the Sheriff of Piltover, Caitlyn. She was super uptight, had long, raven hair and a huuuge hat. It was seriously _ginormous_! Jinx called her " _Hatlady_ " for obvious reasons. She was not carrying her sniper-rifle for once, and was headed straight for the owner of the bakery who was already waiting for them in front of the shop.

The second person to leave the vehicle was the Sheriff's deputy Vi. She had bright pink hair which was the only thing shorter than her temper. Jinx loved to taunt her with the nickname of "Fathands", as Vi's preferred weapon were two big Hex-Tech gaunlets that acted like huge metal fists.

But for some reason she wasn't wearing them either as she sat down on the hood of the cruiser watching Hatlady, which was an unusual sight for Jinx. They really don't expect anything bad to happen while doing this simple investigation.

 _Well, their bad luck!_ she thought, unhooking the rather heavy glitterbomb from her belt before standing up and preparing to throw it towards Piltover's Finest. She deactivated the safety on the explosive, thus allowing it to detonate upon impact.

" **Wait!** **Hide.** "

The familiar voice coming from around her hip quickly made her take cover again just as she was about to hurl the glitterbomb off the roof.  
It was Pow-Pow, her minigun, who spoke. She rarely gave Jinx orders (or spoke in general, really) so she immediately did as she was told.

Unlike Fishbones, Pow-Pow didn't object to a little mayhem. So she was left wondering as to why she shouldn't throw the bomb.  
Was the plan stupid?

Nah. She planned the whole thing with Pow-Pow and Zap (the latter being at home due to having cold), so that couldn't be it. Maybe she spotted something more fun than making the Piltover Losers look even more sparkly than the princess of Damacia. Hm.. Yes, that must be it!

She slowly poke her head out of the cover, obvserving the two police officers carefully.

So far nothing exceptionally unusual. The Sheriff was taking notes while talking to the yordle owner, and Vi sat on the hood of the cruiser looking at Hatlady. "What did you see, Pow-Pow?" she finally asked, putting one hand gently on the ammunition-housing of said minigun. She could feel the partly chipped-off pink paint under her touch. Pow-Pow really needed some proper maintenance.

"Vi. Look at her." came as response, the tone of which sounded almost... _amused_?

And then she saw it. Pow-Pow really had an eye for these details. Fathands wasn't just looking, she was **staring** at Hatlady. From Jinx's angle (which wasn't great) it almost looked a bit.. _dreamy_.

Jinx had never seen that expression on Fathands before. If it ment what she thought it did, then _tons_ of fun was lying ahead.

She defused her glitterbomb and searched for a way to get closer.

* * *

 **Hey there.**

 **Welcome to my first fanfiction (or longer english text in general) ever!**  
 **This thing will hopefully continue on for a few more words, and I seriously hope you'll enjoy it.**

 **Since i'm still learning don't hesitate to point out any gramatical disasters or cringy parts.**


	2. II - The Deputy

When they arrived at the bakery the owner was already waiting in front of the store waving hectically. Vi groaned.

"Mind if I stay by the cruiser Cupcake? He is your pal after all." she asked, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Alright. But only because I know just how much you like Bronn." Caitlyn replied, chuckling. "But once i'm done questioning him I will need your help to search the place for any evidence." She was already outside of the cruiser having grabbed her hat and notebook before she could respond.

Vi looked after the Sheriff walking away for a moment before turning around, her eyes now lying on her Hex-Tech gauntlets that were resting on the backseat. They were each taking up as much space as one person and had a combined weight of almost two humans (or about three yordles). Most of that weight was plain armor and the mechanisms to enable simple five-finger control aswell as being able to propell herself forward, be it through criminals or solid walls. This earned her gaunlets the unofficial name of " _Vault-Breakers_ ", though most people just referred to them simply as gaunlets (or " _gloves_ ", which infuriated Vi).

Caitlyn always complains about them not being fastened or stored in the trunk; something about hard braking and them flying around the inside of the cruiser.  
Needless to say the Deputy never listens as easy access to her "Babys" was more important. Though right now she wouldn't need them.

She leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes, her face plastered with pain. She didn't sleep all night and the resulting headache was getting worse every hour.  
Caitlyn would've probably allowed her to go home earlier, but since her shift was ending soon she might aswell go through with it. She also had something planned for today.

She opened the cruisers door and slowly made it out of the drivers seat. Being the designated driver of the Duo was a privilege that she earned quickly after being recruited into the police-force by Caitlyn. There were complaints about speeding, but the Sheriff soon realized that Vi would get them everywhere faster and safer than her.

Having finally gotten out of the vehicle, she made her way to it's front and sat down on the hood, looking at her partner who was already taking notes, nodding continuously while listening to the yordle.

The Bakery looked like most buildings in this area; It was made from grey-ish bricks and stood very close to the surrounding houses, making for many alleyways and smaller streets. She hasn't been to the bakery very often herself. It was too far away from her apartment and she didn't like cakes and pies all that much. Except for their cupcakes, which the Sheriff not only used for her apprehending criminal yordles, but for sharing them with Vi aswell.

It was very sunny for a late autumn day. However this will probably be one of the last good days as winter was nearing.

It was around this time of the year a few years back Caitlyn had asked Vi to join the Police, actually.  
She was left the choice to abandon her criminal life and become one of the "good guys". She often thinks back on accepting the offer as the greatest decision she has ever made. She would probably still rot in the slums of Piltover if it hadn't been for _her._

She sighed. _Caitlyn.._

For the longest time after her "rehabilitation" she was driven by wanting to have a home, live a normal life and beat up bad guys.  
For Vi, those were three reasons to wake up for every day. As a result the last years have been the happiest in her life.

But as she recently came to realize there was a fourth reason. Having seen and worked with Caitlyn almost every day ever since their first meeting, their mutual trust and her kindness made her an important part of her daily life. Of course it wasn't always perfect, she was her superior officer after all. But her occasional stern words were always aimed at bettering Vi as a person.

It became increasingly harder for the Vi to ignore the fact that she was developing feelings for Caitlyn that went beyond their work and friendship.

She had been weighed out her options for a long time, often ending in sleepless nights like the last one. She wouldn't jeopardize their working relationship aswell as their friendship by straight-out telling her about her feelings. That would be the Vi way to do things, but for once there was something she cared about on the line. Yet she couldn't just suppress her feelings forever.

She needed to find out if Caitlyn had similiar feelings about her. And she would take it slow.


	3. III - The Search for Clues

Vi was standing in a small alley behind the bakery.

After finishing her lengthy questioning, Caitlyn sent her to look for any clues on the other side of the shop where the thieves supposedly broke in. The alley was very clean for a passageway barely anyone uses; a clear sign that they were still (though barely) within the richer part of Piltover where a spotless appearance was mandatory. It was what she despised most about this city; many people just cared a bit too much about looks and demeanor.

These people, especially those with influence in the government of the city-state, tried numerous times to expel Vi from the Piltover Police Bureau (PPB). A former criminal who used to live in the slums now serving their police force of highly trained and qualified officers was a humiliation for them. Vi tried her best to show them her worth, but they were having none of it.

What ultimately saved her from being relieved of duty was Caitlyn and the influence of her family. Her father, Reginald Beaumont, used his position as member in the city-council to protect Vi's position.  
She got to stay in her job as deputy and several of the people who wanted to get rid of her apologized afterwards. In a way she won, but it was a sour victory.

That conflict clearly showed her that heritage and standing often outvalued competence and talent, after all Vi **is** a good officer. This made the Piltovian society the direct opposite of that of the Noxian empire, where strength and competence was the center of their philosophy. If it weren't for the brutal murders and constant betrayal, Vi could imagine becoming a Noxian.

Vi looked around herself. The alley was small, the rear walls of houses featuring barely any windows located on each side of the cobblestone path. The back-wall of the bakery was to her left. Next to the clearly damaged backdoor of the bake shop was a dumpster aswell as two crates. They were probably dropped off by a courier and contained raw materials for the bakery, like flour and sugar. Both were locked with simple padlocks which looked undamaged, meaning that the materials were most likely delivered after the burglary. Or the thieves only cared for the final products.

She examined the wooden door more closely. There were severe signs of brute force all around the locking mechanism, the pattern of which suggests that some kind of iron tool was used.  
Not that it mattered anyways. It was unlikely that they will catch the culprits. They were only confirming a crime took place so the owners insurance would cover the damages. These kind of " _investigations_ " were merely a formality in most of the cases.

Despite what most friends and foes of Piltover's Finest thought, Vi wasn't bad at investigating and solving cases. Having learned how to easily read people when she was still on the opposite site of the law aswell as being trained by Sheriff Beaumont herself made her a respectable detective. Of course Caitlyn was the greater investigator of the two, but Vi wasn't the mindless brute some people believed her to be.

The police Duo was well known in the city-state. Their public image would no doubt suffer should they ever become a couple.

Vi sighed. The reasons not to pursue a romantic relationship with Cait were piling up next to the only justification to do it; knowing she will regret it if she doesn't atleast try. It would add to the list of things Vi hated herself for. But it would easily be the most significant. She wasn't going to take that risk.

Having found enough evidence of a break-in for the report, the Deputy sat down on one of the crates and recalled the details of the plan she had gone over at least a hundred times throughout the day; after reporting her findings to the Sheriff and getting back into their cruiser she would ask Cait if she wanted to go for some dinner after their shift ended. She needed to make sure she would say " _some dinner_ " instead of simply " _dinner_ ", as it sounded less suspicious.

Not that the act of asking Caitlyn for any kind of dinner wasn't very odd already; while they did often spend their lunch-breaks together drinking coffee at their favourite cafe, they only once went to eat together at a restaurant. And that was when they first met. Caitlyn hasn't been the Sheriff for very long back then, so initially Vi had no idea who the strange woman inviting her for dinner was, or why she did it. But having been starving for days ever since she left her gang she couldn't refuse the offer of free food, no matter how shady it was.

Although experiments on humans were more common in the city-state of Zaun and absolutely forbidden in Piltover, there were stories of wealthy "Pilties" luring in the hungry and desperate inhabitants of both the Zaunite and Piltovian slums with the promise of shelter and food, just to use them for experimentation instead.

Vi didn't believe in those stories entirely, but she was still cautious and would bolt at the first sign of trouble. But as it turned out, the woman posed no danger. She offered Vi, who was devouring her food as fast as she could (it was some kind of rabbit with salad, as she recalls), work. Legal, paid work.  
"Who are you?" she remembers asking the woman, eyeing her distrustfully. She knew she was someone important, with her stylish clothing, aristocratic accent and fancy top hat.

"I'm sheriff Beaumont. Caitlyn Beaumont." The fact that the restaurant they were in was still deep within the highly criminal part of Piltover and thus being a bad place for a police set-up was keeping Vi from straight up running away that day. So they talked. And then Caitlyn gave Vi a choice: become her partner or go to jail. She could've probably escaped the Sheriff that day, but the prospect of dwelling in the filthy streets forever was convincing enough to accept the offer. Afterwards Caitlyn has brought her to a nice hotel in the core of Piltover where Vi would spend the night. Cait had hugged her at the door when she left; a warm welcome into her new life.

Vi realized she was smiling broadly, remembering that fateful day. She sighed. No, she can't fuck this up! Time for the grand rehearsal. She stood up from the crate and started talking to her imaginary colleague.

"Hey, how about we go for some dinner after our shift?"

"Sure, why not?" the familiar voice of her partner replied.

Vi froze.

 _Oh fuck._


	4. IV - Pointless Encounter

**Quick note:** This chapter was extremely frustrating to write and took way longer than anticipated. I am not really satisfied with it.

You might ask why I would release it anyways, and I would say it's an excellent question.

I really want to get going with the Story, and I guess i can always go back and fix stuff here if this mess creates continuity errors.

* * *

After recovering from the intital shock, Vi quickly spun around to face the Sheriff.

"Oh, Hey Cupca-..."

She wasn't prepared for who was standing on the opposite side of the crate.

It was that bitch. That blue-haired, skinny lunatic. Piltover's most wanted. With her idiotic long braids and pale skin. Loud, mocking laughter drilled into the Deputy's head who could practically feel her headache becoming worse.

"I can't believe you really fell for that, Fathands!" the woman managed to say inbetween her incessant laughter.

Everyone, even the official police records, referred to her as **_Jinx_**. Vi _hated_ her. And if it weren't for her always-present complement of weapons she would jump over the box and strangle the life out of her. But Jinx was right; despite the lunatics ability to almost-perfectly replicate Caitlyn's voice (Something the _PPB_ learned after Jinx hijacked their communications-channel and ordered every officer into a bar) being noted in her file, Vi should be able to tell the difference. Blaming her headache she pushes the matter aside and concentrates on what to do.

If Vi was wearing her _Vault-Breakers_ she would try to fight Jinx right now. But because she left them in the cruiser (something Vi hated herself for right now) she needed to follow the standard procedure the Sheriff had laid out for every Officer in case they encounter Jinx;

 **Call for help - Run - Reorganize and try to apprehend the criminal.**

The apprehending-Jinx part was what the _PPB_ struggled with, which was why there were special rules in the first place. Getting cought in the maniacs destructive wake left more than one police officer severly injured, so Caitlyn made it explicitly clear that Jinx is never to be faced without backup. The Deputy had the most issues following this simple rule. Jinx did an excellent job in aggravating Vi, often resulting in lengthy chases across the city and causing immense property damages. However, facing her nemesis without weapons compelled her to follow Caitlyn's guideline.

"You shoulda seen your face!" Jinx made a very unflattering imitation of Vi's panicked expression before returning to her laughing fit.

Her hands wandered down to the side of her belt, searching for the HexCom-Communicator. This isn't the first time Jinx has ambushed her like this, so pressing the " _Send_ " button four times in a row will tell Caitlyn immediately what is happening.

Implying she had not forgotten her HexCom in the cruiser.

Vi cursed under her breath. _Alright, no calling for help then._

Jinx was still laughing like a madwoman with her arms wrapped around herself, making it look like she was wearing a straightjacket. Her two big signature weapons, a pink minigun and a grey rocket-launcher, were attached to straps that were hanging over her shoulders, and there were a few grenades hooked to her belt. If Vi was fast enough she could probably make a run for the front of the bakery through the side-alley.

But as soon as the Deputy took her first carefull step backwards the criminal immeditately snapped out of her mocking laughter and brought her minigun to bear.

"Hey! You could at least say _Hi_ before you run off!" the armed woman said with a wide grin on her face.

"What do you want, Jinx?" Vi sounded slightly annoyed. She knew Jinx was toying with her, it seemed to be her second most favorite thing to do besides destroying buildings and vandalizing the city with her spray-paint.

"Oh, just checking in on my beeeest friend from the police..."

From all the police officers, Jinx loved to annoy Vi the most. Probably because she was easy to enrage.

"..and wanting to see how Hatlady is going to reject your invitation for a date!" she psychopath continued.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Vi replied a bit too fast. She wasn't going to ask how Jinx knew about her plans. She probably came to that conclusion after overhearing Vi asking aloud earlier.

Jinx's grin faded. "Oh, that's too bad Fathands. I would've loooved to see you fail miserably. I mean, **the** Sheriff of Piltover going out with someone who looks as hideous as you? If it weren't for your uniform people could mistake you for a prostitute!"

Vi was trying hard not to give Jinx the satisfaction of getting angry. Those were meaningless insults, coming from a meaningless person. At least that was what she tried to believe. She always regarded herself as decent looking, though her short pink hair and the tattoo on her left cheek that said " _Vi_ " were kind of out of line with the rest of Piltover's beauty standards, at least with the richer one that Caitlyn was part of. And that her face and hands often were covered in grease and oil from her gaunlets probably wasn't very appealing either. And.. _**NO!** Meaningless insults!_

"Look who's talking." Vi said, stammering a little.

Jinx jerked slightly. " _Got you."_ the Deputy thought. Jinx's outfit didn't cover a whole lot of her thin body. She wore extremely short pink/purple striped pants with a thick belt aswell as a light top that hardly covered her chest, which was also fastened with a belt. A single pink stocking covered her right leg, and she wore a set of heavy boots that almost reached up to her knees (if she bothered to fasten them properly). It was typical Zaunite fashion, and nothing that one could ever hope to aquire in Piltover.

Jinx wasn't smiling anymore, and Vi felt like the winner of the criminals little game.

"Whatever. Good luck not-wanting-to-date-the-sheriff then. I heard she was seeing that pretty boy anyways. What was his name? Jeff? Jeb? ..Who cares!" Jinx said, spinning on her heel and turning around. "Seeya!"

 _Jayce_. Caitlyn was seeing Jayce? Vi didn't even notice Jinx sprinting off as she stared into nothingness.


	5. V - Triangle

**Authors-Note:** I decided to start posting longer chapter from now on.  
Also first signs of non-sexual M-rated stuff ahead. Tell me if it's too edgy. I won't change it, but I love reading comments. Enjoy!

* * *

"You look thoughtfull, Vi. Are you sure nothing else happened back there?"

Up until this point their ride to the Bureau has been a quiet one. After Jinx fled the scene Vi immediately informed Caitlyn of her encounter with the Criminal. At first she was unsure if she should tell the Sheriff anything; it was unlikely they would be able to catch the criminal, and in a way it would mean revealing her feelings for Cait.

But that would have played right into Jinx's hands and Vi wasn't going to do her that favor. So she told Caitlyn, who then informed every officer on duty to watch out for Jinx. They finished up the "investigation" and made their way back to the cruiser.

"Nah. Just Jinx being Jinx and blabbering nonsense." Vi replied, slightly tightening her grip on the steering wheel.

She despised herself for lying to Caitlyn. But what she and Jinx talked about wasn't a matter of city-safety and more of a personal nature, so it was kind of alright? Needless to say Vi did not ask Caitlyn for dinner. Doing that just after having sighted Jinx felt inappropriate and her headache was just too bad anyways. Those weren't the main reasons however.

She hated to admit it, but she was giving quite alot of thought to what Jinx had told her about Caitlyn dating Jayce. Vi had been considering that possibility even before her encounter with Jinx. Jayce was a highly respected inventor and scientist in Piltover and one of her colleagues. He was given the title of " _Defender of Tomorrow_ " after numerous heroic deeds like stopping a mad zaunite scientist from taking over Piltover. The fact that he was also noble and quite handsome made him an ideal partner for Caitlyn, as much as Vi disliked it.

Not that she personally had anything against Jayce. They were good colleagues and worked well together. She probably was just a little jealous of Jayce's.. compatibility with Caitlyn.

Yes, it was very possible they were dating.

If Cait is taken she's taken. So what? she thought to herself. There wouldn't be much she could do about that, and wouldn't it solve her emotional dilemma? She wouldn't have to ask herself if she should pursue a relationship with Caitlyn if the option simply wasn't given. Caitlyn would be happy, they would still be friends and Vi would be happy aswell as she didn't have to worry about any of this anymore. Right?

Were they actually friends? After all, they didn't do a whole lot together outside of work. How come she called Cait her friend while she considered all the other people at the Bureau just as colleagues? Maybe her feelings were even more one-sided than she could imag-...

"You just ran a red light." Caitlyn noted in a calm voice.

Vi instinctively hit the brake, slowing down drastically. Noticing they were already way past the intersection, she slowly turned her head to Caitlyn who was looking at her in bewilderment.

"Oops! Totally didn't see that. Strange." The Deputy laughed awkwardly and then accelerated again.

Once again it was quiet. They were almost at the Bureau when Caitlyn broke the silence.

"Go home early. You look very tired." The Sheriff raised her finger at Vi who was about to complain. "Tomorrow is your day off anyways. It's ok."

"Oh. You're right." Vi agreed begrudgingly.

She didn't take vacation because she wanted to, but because she had to. Some stupid law. Vi was always bored to death when she wasn't working, and weekends gave her enough time to rest. Given her headache however, she decided it was probably the best to follow her boss's order.

After arriving at the Bureau they both got out of the cruiser (Vi having taken her gauntlets from the backseat and transporting them on her back). She turned to Caitlyn, who was already being approached by one of the other officers.

"See you in two days, Cupcake." She gave a quick salute, to which Caitlyn responded with a smile and a short wave.

Vi headed for the subway.

* * *

"So far no sign of Jinx, miss Beaumont." a newer recruit said.

"Very well. Contact me immediately at the first sign of her." she ordered while walking towards her office in the center of the headquarters of the Bureau.

"Yes ma'am." he saluted before turning and walking towards his desk.

She remembers berating that recruit for calling her "ma'am" before. She wasn't that old yet. What kept her from telling him again was the fact that she completly forgot his name, a side-effect of the PPB having taken on three new recruits this month alone. She would have to check the list again. What kind of Sheriff would she be if she didn't know her officers names?

She arrived at her office's massive wooden door, unlocked it and walked in. After putting her coat and tophat on the hat rack she sat down on her comfortable armchair and relaxed.

It had been almost two full weeks since Jinx's last attack. Overall it had become better. Attacks and deaths have become less frequent.

Caitlyn sighed. Jinx wasn't like any normal criminal that could be apprehended and brought to justice. She was like a force of nature; unstoppable and without mercy for whoever stood in her path. She often imagined what would happen if they were to ever catch her. No doubt she would recieve a death penalty after a quick trial. But would it be satisfying to finally stop her?

Not that she didn't try. It was still the PPB's main priority to put an end to her actions. But with Jinx's attacks becoming less common it was also becoming less likely that would ever happen.

She thinks back to the incident at the bakery. Why would Jinx show herself after such a long time just to taunt Vi and then run off? She was unpredictable, but even for her that behavior was strange despite what her Deputy said.

Caitlyn reached out for the first drawer on the right side of her desk and opened it. In it was her loaded handgun, a few pens and a photograph. She took out the photo and leaned back while looking at it. It was taken at Vi's graduation from the police academy and showed her partner proudly holding up her certificate. Vi was wearing a suit in it, which looked very good on her.

Vi has come such a long way. She remembers every detail; from her skeptical look on their first meeting to that sheepish grin after their first successfull mission as a team. Vi worked hard and had earned Caitlyns trust.

But.. she had to admit said trust was faltering. Vi has been behaving very different in the last few weeks. She was cautious. Nervous.

She knew there was always the possbility that Vi might return to her lawless way, though she had no solid reason to believe that was the case. But that possibility could not be ignored, at least until she found out what was wrong with her Deputy.

Caitlyn sighed. _What the hell is wrong with me? Am I really suspecting Vi of betrayal?_

She carefully put the picture back. It was supposed to be framed and proudly displayed on her desk. She often wondered why she never did that, but now it was too late anyways.

She closed the drawer and reached for a saucer with a cup on it standing on the far side of her desk.

The tea in it was cold.

Yuck.

* * *

"So even if it was mean.." Jinx entered her hideout and slammed the door behind her. "..she totally deserves it!"

"Are you really _still_ mad at her for that?" Fishbone asked, still strapped to her back.

" **Duh!** Of _c_ ourse I am. You would be too if it had happened to you." she said, placing both Pow-Pow and Fishbones on a pillow on the sofa. It was their favorite spot. She took  
the remote and turned on the Hex-Tech Television, which was still set on their favorite channel.

"Well it didn't. And my unbiased opinion is that yo-.." the rocket-launcher began.

" **LALALALALALA** I can't hear you scraphead!" Jinx shouted while covering her ears. Fishbones rolled his eyes.

"Quiet. Are are waking up Zap." Pow-Pow said highly annoyed.

Jinx turned around, a wide smile surfacing. "Zap!" she called, jumping down a small stairway into her workshop which was located right behind the lower half of the gigantic dial of the old clock tower she lived in. There were mechanical clicking noises and gears turning everywhere. This room used to be purely for maintenance of the clock-mechanism, but after Jinx discovered this place she found this room with its machinery to be very inspiring, and thus converted it to her personal workshop.

She moved towards the biggest table in the room, which was placed infront of the "6" of the dial. It wasn't very easy however; there were coils, energy-cells, springs, functional and _broken gears_ lying on the floor everywhere. Almost having to jump from one free spot to the next in highly athletic fashion she reached her destination, which was not only the main assembly of creations like her glitterbomb but also the temporary medical ward for Zap.

Zap was still exactly where she left him, partially covered by a clean rag to keep him warm. She didn't want him to become even more ill!

She sat down on a small stool standing by the table and pulled a mechanical part out of her pocket. She stole it from a security golem in the morning, hoping it would fit and fix her little buddy up.

Grabbing some tools that were strewn across the table she immediately got to integrating the replacement part into Zap. If she was in a hurry she could probably do it within a minute, but this kind of work was her form of relaxation. So she took her time, careful not to damage any parts and listening to the quiet electrical humming-noise her shock-pistol was making.

There was one big downside to this kind of calm tinkering: It gave her conscience time to surface and show its ugly face. And right now that conscience told her that Fishbones was right. Thinking about it, her conscience always agreed with that stupid rocket launcher. Were those two collaborating? She would have to investigate that connection at some point.

That Fishbones didn't think Fathands deserved that treatment was understandable. She never told him the entire story of what went down all that time ago, just that Fatface was very mean to her.

But her own conscience? It should totally know better!

She was getting angry. Stupid Fathands. If it weren't for that heartless bitch it would be all better. With her idiotic gauntlets and stupid Hatlady. Why hasn't she ended that monster yet? She should just walk into the Bureau and shoot her and Hatlady on the spot. And then level this entire city, and every smug snob with it! And why won't this fucking thing work?

Realization hit her. Jinx looked down to her hands. They were still holding the tools, but shaking lightly.

She looked at the clock in distress. It was 08:38 PM. _Almost four hours too early. Fuck._

Quickly getting up from the stool and kicking it over in the process she made her way back to the living room, not even remotely as elegant as before. She was sure she heard something crack under her boot as walked across the littered room. After climbing up the tiny set of stairs she only had a small way to go to get to the room she called "kitchen". Luckily she didn't have to walk by the sofa, though her friends seem to be distracted by the television anyways.

She quietly entered the kitchen. There was a sink, a cabinet, a wooden table and a chair. Not counting the broken oven. Opening the cabinet, she took out a small iron casket and quickly placed it on top of the table.

In it are three vials, two of which were empty, and two pills.

Her eyes frantically moved between the vial and the pills. _Which one?_

She decided to take one of the pills. She hated the vials, but if no new job comes up she eventually will have to use them.

Standing before the sink she took a cup and put it under the tap. _Please don't be brown Please don't be brown Please don't be brown._ she thought while opening the valve.

The water coming out of the tap was dark brown. Jinx wanted to cry. While she should probably consider herself lucky for having a functioning sink at all, this occasional disgusting rusty water was just too much to bear.

But even more unbearable was the wait for the cup to finally be full. _Why is this taking so long?_

She couldn't wait anymore. Placing the pill in her mouth she closed the valve and chugged down the "water" from the cup.

Her face crumpled in disgust. _Blood.._

Shortly after, Jinx felt a short burst of warmth. It was very pleasant. Then it was gone. As was the shaking of her hands.

Now that that was done she needed to fix Zap! She left the cup in the sink and headed off to her workshop.

Having walked down the short set of stairs she noticed a broken coil on the floor. She picked it up and eyed it for a moment. She must have stepped on that when she carelessly walked through this mess. It was easy to replace. Not like confidence, which can be shattered beyond repair.

Fishbones **was** right. She probably hurt Vi with those words. Maybe she didn't even ask Caitlyn for dinner because of her.

She threw the broken coil on a heap of other unusuable components next to her workbench.

Next time she sees Fathands she will have to apologize.

Picking up the stool she got back to work. Connecting the new capacitor with the existing system and then hiding it all neatly within the grip of the shock-gun was easily done, and soon enough she held her mute friend up, taking various shooting-poses.

" _Aww yiss!_ I'm glad to have you back, Zappy!"

She planeted a quick kiss on the gun's stock, then looked at it curiously.

"I wonder if you pack a bigger punch now... I need to know!"

She turned the pistol around and pulled the trigger.


End file.
